Fox Wants Buffy Fan Sites Slain

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Fox Wants Buffy Fan Sites Slain

For the last three years, John Lee has spent most of his free time building an electronic shrine to his favorite television show – Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

But a few months ago the 23-year-old student at the University of California at San Diego received a certified letter from lawyers representing 20th Century Fox, which owns the intellectual property rights to Buffy.

Lee's site was violating copyright laws, the letter said. And since it was almost entirely comprised of copyrighted material, including sound clips, the letter stated he'd have to take the whole site down, or else face a copyright infringement suit.

"I feared it was coming, it was somewhat expected," said Lee, who said he knew of other fan sites that had also been contacted by 20th Century Fox’s lawyers.

In an attempt to stave off legal action, Lee had even added disclaimers on his site. But it was too late.

Over the last few months, 20th Century Fox has sent out a stream of "cease and desist" letters, effectively pulling the plug on several unofficial Buffy sites for alleged copyright violations.

"Fox has dedicated tremendous time and resources to the creation of quality entertainment programming such as 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,'" read the letters.

And because of contractual relationships with creative guilds and licensors, the letters said, Fox has a "legal responsibility" to stop all unauthorized distribution of its protected material.

Fox’s attorneys did not return telephone calls to Wired News, and a Fox spokeswoman said no one from the company was available to comment.

But Buffy fans, who have formed dozens of newsgroups and posted hundreds of Web sites, said they just want to talk about their shared passion for vampire slayers.

Solo84, a 17-year-old high school senior from Los Angeles who requested anonymity, is so angry about Fox's position that she's formed a group of angry fans called the "Buffy Bringers".

The Bringers have launched a letter-writing campaign, and hope to sway advertisers from sinking money into Fox until it backs off.

Of course, fans are always free to go to the official site, but Solo84 says it's bloodless.

"I, for one, spend hours on my site, I don't hire someone who doesn't give a damn to build my site," she said. "This is something we go online to create. It's almost like putting posters on our walls."And one fan is so upset she has taken the fight a step further.

Holland, Michigan Hhighschool freshman Jade, who didn't want to use her last name, has organized a national blackout day on 13 May, when fan sites for every television show will be taken down for 24 hours.

"I decided to organize the blackout when I saw a good site get taken down by Fox," she said in an email. "I was not threatened personally, but in a way I am, when I see sites I go to taken down."

This isn't the first time Fox has waged war with the online fans of some of its most popular television shows. Since 1997, Fox has targeted a number of unofficial fan sites for The X-Files for copyright violations and has sent out letters telling site owners to remove the offending material or risk legal action.

And Fox is within its legal rights, said intellectual property expert and attorney Mitchell Stabbe.

Stabbe says the decision to go after fan sites is basically a business one. He said he thinks that Fox has decided to risk alienating some fans in order to keep a tight clamp on its intellectual property. The only practical recourse the Buffy crowd has now is its voice, he said.

"Sometimes the war is waged in the arena of public opinion," he said.

Until Fox shows a sign of relenting on its position, operators of unscathed fan sites are worried they'll be next.

Solo84, who also runs a Buffy fan fiction site, said she wakes up each morning afraid that she'll get the dreaded letter from Fox.

"Knowing that there is an innate possibility that, at any given time, I could receive an email from the Fox legal department asking me to shut down months of difficult, devoted, and unceasing toil," he said, "is akin to a vampire feeding off my blood."